Firstly on Tuesday I fulfilled one of my ambitions - to run a marathon in training. The schedule called for 22 miles and I didn't think an extra 4.2 miles could make much difference.
I had the morning booked off work and the weather was pleasant for once so there could be no excuses.
I made a point of doing the first 12 miles very slow - 8:30 minute miles or slower. This felt extremely comfortable and running through the countryside on a mild winter's day was very pleasant. The next 10 miles were slightly faster - around 8:10 pace - but felt fine. That left the extra 4.2 miles. I just let my legs run at the speed they wanted to go at this point and was pleasantly surprised to find that my legs were still happy to average about 8:20 minutes per mile.
So mission accomplished! 26.2 miles run in 3 hours 38 minutes all fuelled by one bottle of Lucozade.
My legs felt a bit twingey and achy for a few days afterwards but I managed to recover in time for a Half Marathon on Sunday. Overall this run was a huge confidence boost to prove that the marathon is just an arbitrary distance and not to be feared when approached carefully.
The second fun part of the week was the Oulton Park Half Marathon on the Sunday. This was the first edition of this event and it is quite unique as it takes place on a race track. No traffic here and 6 laps would allow for plenty of lapping fun.
As normal I started off at a steady 6:55 minute / mile pace. This felt very comfortable and I soon sped up to between 6:45 and 6:50. By the third lap I started lapping people as well as occasionally overtaking. By the start of fifth lap I was still feeling strong and sped up to 6:40 pace.
By my calculations I was on course to break 1:29 for the first time but I had run wide on lots of the corners due to lapping people and my Garmin measured the run as 13.25 miles. Despite sprinting down the final straight I only managed a 1 second PB - 1:29:18!
Four weeks until Wilmslow Half; seven weeks until London Marathon!
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